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Thursday, April 24, 2008

Multi Stripe Baby Quilt

It seems like I could make a hundred baby quilts every year and still not have a single one to myself. I love the Modern Baby Boy quilt that Bonny made, but I have made it a few times before, so of course I was ready for a new variation. I wanted something a little more random looking, but without the scrappy process. With limited time on my hands, I am motivated by speed. I came up with this organized process for an unorganized looking baby quilt.A pdf document of this tutorial is available at our Etsy shop!

WHAT YOU NEED: (6) 1/3 yard cut of six different fabrics.1/2 yard for binding1 1/3 yards for backing.

When choosing fabrics for this project, select prints with a wide variety of prints and patterns. In other words, don't be too "matchy."

Have you seen all of the new fabrics they have over at sewmamasew? I think the Bell Bottom line would be a great choice for this quilt!

STEP 1: Group your fabric into two stacks of three fabrics each. Match the selvedge edges on each stack, and trim them off. For your first stack make a cut twelve inches into the strip from the left side. For the second stack, make a cut 9" over from the left side, and then 18" over from the first cut. See the diagram above. The sections on the right side may vary in width from the diagram due to differences in fabric widths. This is OK and we will fix it later on in the project.STEP 2: SHUFFLE FABRICS

Beginning with the set of fabrics with three cuts, take the top fabric on the left side and move it to the bottom. Now take the bottom fabric on the far right stack and move it to the top. With the set of strips with only two sections, take the top fabric from the left hand section, and move it to the bottom.STEP 3: SEW SECTIONS BACK INTO STRIPS

Now you are simply going to sew a seam where you once cut, to make three strips of fabric with three different colors as above, and three strips of fabrics with two different colors as below. Use a 1/4" seam allowance and press your seams to the darker colored fabric.Each strip of fabric should now measure approximately 12"x 40". Approximate is fine for this project. Do not freak out about exact measurements.

STEP 4: CUT VERTICAL STRIPS

Start by taking one long rectangular strip and folding it in half cross wise. This will make it a more managable size for your cutting mat. Starting at one edge, square it up if needed, and make 4-5 random size strips which measure between 4" and 1 1/2" in width. In the photo above I made a 2" strip, a 2 1/2" strip, a 3 " strip, and a 3 1/2" strip.

Repeat with each rectangular strip. For this strip I cut a 3 1/2", 2 1/2," 2" and (2) 1 1/2".

And strip widths for this section are (2) 1 1/2", 2", 2 1/2", and 4". You get the idea right?

STEP 5: LAYOUT STRIPS AND ASSEMBLE QUILT TOP.

Now layout your strips, alternating colors and widths. Don't forget to flip them horizontally for more variety. Set aside about three strips to use for the quilt back. Next stack them up and take them to your sewing. Start sewing the strips together, down the long edge of course, and using a 1/4 seam allowance. Begin your seams at the same edge each time. This will give you one nice straight edge, and one edge which is probably jagged due to varing fabric widths. As you sew your strips together, check the length of your quilt top. You should have enough strips to make at least a square quilt, probably a little longer. Keep adding strips until it is the size you want it.

STEP 6: SQUARE UP QUILT TOP

Now you should have a quilt top that looks something like the one pictured above. Carefully press your seams, (I pressed every other stripe with the seams going out), and then fold the quilt in half, meeting the bottom and top stripes.

Using your cutting mat and ruler, square up the jagged edge of your quilt. (Isn't that much nicer than measuring exactly, and pinning? Oh how I detest pinning)

STEP 7: ASSEMBLE QUILT BACK, QUILT AND BIND

For this quilt, you should be able to use a full width of fabric for the back. I cut mine into four sections, and sewed a few of my leftover strips into it. Since I am lucky enough to own my own long-arm quilting machine, I got it quilted in a jiffy. I free-handed large chrysanthemum looking flowers all over it. You could simplifly the flower pattern if you are hand quilting, or simply quilt random lines parallel with the strips. For binding, you can't beat the tutorial found here.